History Main / TheRealRemingtonSteele

* On ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', Elliot gets tired of "Dr. Eliot Reid" being presumed to be a man, so she pretends to be "his" nurse in order to quiet down a sexist patient. When he becomes skeptical, she gets the Janitor to fill in as "Dr. Reid".

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'', during the Turtles' third showdown with the Shredder, it's revealed that he's actually an Utrom in a MobileSuitHuman, and we soon leaarn his real name is Ch'Rell, rather than Oroku Saki. Soon afterwards, the Turtles learn that Ch'Rell wasn't the one who created the Shredder persona. The original Oroku Saki existed in ancient Japan, and became the Shredder after bonding his soul with a Tengu demon. Ch'Rell had been inspired by the legends and took up the mantle for his own.

* In ''Irma La Douce'', Nestor Patou impersonates a QuintessentialBritishGentleman and is ultimately jailed for murdering his alter-ego. He's unexpectedly freed at the end when a real person who looks and acts exactly like his fake identity shows up.

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', it turns out that the Klingons were being manipulated into fighting TheFederation by a shapeshifter, and so our heroes go undercover to expose the Klingon leader Gowron... only it's not Gowron, it's Gowron's right hand man, Martok. The producers so liked J. G. Hertzler's performance of Martok that they soon had the ''real'' Martok be discovered at a Dominion prison and eventually rescued, becoming a major {{Recurrer}}, eventually becoming the new leader of the Klingon Empire.

** MAYOR spoilers for Season 3. Read under your own risk: [[spoiler: The Hollow Keepers that Fina and co fought for much of the season are revealed to be the actual Hollow Breakers, having been manipulated by the True Hollow Keepers into doing the grunt work. This sends all the protagonist into a collective HeroicBSOD, specially Fina and Chorale.]]

* According to Greg Sestero in the biography ''Literature/TheDisasterArtist'', Tommy Wiseau named Sestero's character in ''Film/TheRoom'', Mark, after the lead actor of ''Film/TheTalentedMrRipley'' but insisted that the actor's name was "[[Creator/MattDamon Mark Damon]]". What both Wiseau and Sestero didn't know was that there is an actual actor named Mark Damon and yes, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Damon he even has his own page]] on [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]].

* Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica: An apparent sorcerer named Bloodwynd joined the Justice League in the early 1990s. Eventually this turned out to be the ComicBook/MartianManhunter, forced to ''impersonate'' the real Bloodwynd, who was trapped inside the magic gem the Manhunter had been wearing during the impersonation. This sometimes got really screwed up when Martian Manhunter [[CoversAlwaysLie appeared on the cover]] at the same time...

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', a mysterious new criminal named [[AwesomeMcCoolName Red X]] appears and seeks to partner with the Titans' enemy Slade. He turns out to be an alias of [[spoiler:Robin]], used in a ploy to [[spoiler:investigate and/or capture Slade]]. In later episodes, the Red X costume is stolen by an unknown thief, essentially identical to the persona being portrayed by [[spoiler:Robin]]. [[RiddleForTheAges It's never revealed who stole the Red X suit]], although WordOfGod is that [[StrangerBehindTheMask he was not any previously introduced character]].

* In ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'', Deadpool himself is convinced he's Wade Wilson (I am!), and though Agent X claimed to be him, it was because Black Swan absorbed Deadpool's powers while trying to save himself, which led to Nijo obtaining his regeneration and part of his memories when he was revived. T-Ray ''also'' claimed to be the real Wade Wilson. For a while who the real Wade is varied DependingOnTheWriter, now it's just [[RiddleForTheAges Who the Hell Knows]]. (Both 'Pool and T-Ray are kind of nuts, so you really can't take either of them at their word.) In the end, the question is moot. T-Ray is dead and Nijo no longer believes he's Wade. As far as we know, Deadpool is sincere that he's Wade.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'', Deadpool himself is convinced he's Wade Wilson (I am!), and though Agent X claimed to be him, it was because Black Swan absorbed Deadpool's powers while trying to save himself, which led to Nijo obtaining his regeneration and part of his memories when he was revived. T-Ray ''also'' claimed to be the real Wade Wilson. For a while who the real Wade is varied DependingOnTheWriter, now it's just [[RiddleForTheAges Who the Hell Knows]]. (Both 'Pool and T-Ray are kind of nuts, so you really can't take either of them at their word.)
** In the end, the question is moot. T-Ray is dead and Nijo no longer believes he's Wade. As far as we know, Deadpool is sincere that he's Wade.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'', Deadpool himself is convinced he's Wade Wilson (he isn't), and though Agent X claims to be the real deal, doubt has been cast on the assertion. It isn't helped that T-Ray ''also'' claims to be the real Wade Wilson. For a while who the real Wade is varied DependingOnTheWriter, now it's just [[RiddleForTheAges Who the Hell Knows]]. (Both 'Pool and T-Ray are kind of nuts, so you really can't take either of them at their word.)

** An episode has Mr. Krabs attempt to get [=SpongeBob=] to give up the soda drink hat he sold him by claiming that it belonged to someone who is dead now, making up the name of [[OverlyLongName Smitty Werbenjeggermanjenson]]. Later, it turns out that there actually is a fish in Bikini Bottom Cemetery by that name and that the hat did belong to him prior to his death.

** One of Bart's crank calls to Moe's involves asking for a "Hugh Jass". The difference is that this time Moe actually finds a guy named [[UnfortunateNames Hugh Jass]] in his tavern, which Bart does not anticipate. The guy turns out to be nice enough to let him off the hook however.
** In a similar gag, Homer tells Moe that [[IHaveThisFriend he has this friend]] named Joey Joe-Joe Jr. Shabadoo. Moe replies that that's the worst name ever, only for a man ''actually'' named Joey Joe-Joe Jr. Shabadoo to run out of the bar crying.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyBraveExvius'': MAYOR spoilers for Season 3. Read under your own risk: [[spoiler: The Hollow Keepers that Fina and co fought for much of the season are revealed to be the actual Hollow Breakers, having been manipulated by the True Hollow Keepers into doing the grunt work. This sends all the protagonist into a collective HeroicBSOD, specially Fina and Chorale.]]

*** Said real Mandarin would finally make his debut seven years later in ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings'', where his real name is Xu Wenwu, and while "The Mandarin" moniker was made up, Wenwu accepts it as a title because he thinks it's ActuallyPrettyFunny that Killian managed to terrify America with a character named afer a type of orange.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'', during the Turtles' third showdown with the Shredder, it's revealed that he's actually an Utrom in a MobileSuitHuman, and we soon leaarn his real name is Ch'Rell, rather than Oroku Saki. Soon afterwards, the Turtles learn that Ch'Rell wasn't the one who created the Shredder persona. The original Oroku Saki had his soul bonded with a Tengu demon, named the Shredder, in ancient Japan. Ch'Rell had been inspired by the legends and took up the mantle for his own.

* Throughout ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', [[ConspiracyTheorist Dale]] often uses the fake name "Rusty Shackleford", apparently the name of an old classmate who died when he was in the third grade. In an episode in the last few seasons, the real Rusty Shackleford confronts him. Turns out he just moved away.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'', during the Turtles' third showdown with the Shredder, it's revealed that he's actually an Utrom in a MobileSuitHuman. In his final appearance (prior to returning in ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever''), it's revealed that his real name is Ch'Rell rather than Oroku Saki. Soon afterwards, the Turtles learn that Ch'Rell wasn't the one who created the Shredder persona; the original Shredder, a demonic being, existed long ago in ancient Japan. Ch'Rell had been inspired by the legends and took up the mantle for his own.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'', Deadpool himself is convinced he's Wade Wilson (he isn't), and though Agent X claims to be the real deal, doubt has been cast on the assertion. It isn't helped that T-Ray ''also'' claims to be the real Wade Wilson. For a while who the real Wade is varied DependingOnTheWriter, now it's just Who the Hell Knows. (Both 'Pool and T-Ray are kind of nuts, so you really can't take either of them at their word.)

** Editing created an example of this involving the Mandarin:

*** Said real Mandarin would finally make his debut seven years later in ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings''.
** In ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'', Spider-Man has to face the Sandman, one of the Elementals, [[spoiler:but it turns out all of the Elementals, including Sandman, were just illusions created by the real BigBad, Mysterio]]. In the sequel, ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', a multiversal crisis causes Spider-Man to face off against [[Film/SpiderMan3 a real Sandman]].

* Editing created an example of this in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** As originally written, [[Film/IronMan3 Aldrich Killian's plan]] involved {{False Flag Operation}}s, implicating the independent terrorist organization [[Film/IronMan the Ten Rings]] in several bombings around the world, and casting out-of-work actor Trevor Slattery as their leader, a historical LegacyCharacter called the Mandarin. However, much of this material was cut from the movie, leading a viewer to safely assume that Killian's declaration that he was the real Mandarin "all along" meant he was indeed TheManBehindTheMan going back to the first Iron Man film. WordOfGod declared otherwise, leading to...
** ''Film/AllHailTheKing'', which sets the record straight: The Mandarin is a historical legacy, he's {{real|AfterAll}}, [[OhCrap and active]], and, well:

** Said real Mandarin would finally make his debut seven years later in ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', a mysterious new criminal named [[AwesomeMcCoolName Red X]] appears and seeks to partner with the Titans' enemy Slade. He turns out to be an alias of [[spoiler:Robin]], used in a ploy to [[spoiler:investigate and/or capture Slade]]. In later episodes, the Red X costume is stolen by an unknown thief, essentially identical to the persona being portrayed by [[spoiler:Robin]]. [[RiddleForTheAges It's never revealed who stole the Red X suit]], although WordOfGod is that [[StrangerBehindTheMask he was not any previously-introduced character]].

** Season One features [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Harrison Wells]], who is eventually revealed to be Eobard Thawne, having stolen the body of the real Harrison Wells and murdered the original. Following this, due to the popularity of Tom Cavanaugh's acting, no less than ''four'' Harrison Welleses from four different Earths have played important roles in the show (in addition to Thawne returning with Wells' body), with a variety of others performing cameos.
** Season Two features Jay Garrick arriving from Earth-2 and warning the team of the evil, demonic speedster Zoom, but being unable to help them much due to his powers being missing. However, it turns out in the second half of the season that "Jay" was actually Hunter Zolomon, Zoom's true identity, deceiving them all. Only in the season finale does he reveal that he didn't just make up the name, but rather stole it from the real Jay Garrick, the Flash of Earth-3, whom he's been keeping imprisoned behind an iron mask in his lair. By this point, poor Barry has some major trust issues.

** [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl}} Cassandra]] [[Comicbook/Batgirl2000 Cain]] might have been created simply to have someone wearing the costume of the new Batgirl introduced in the BatFamilyCrossover ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand''. That new Batgirl was introduced near the beginning of the story, while Cassandra was introduced several months later. After her two-part introduction, Cassandra's next appearance was in an issue that revealed the new Batgirl's identity as existing character ComicBook/{{Huntress}}. In that issue Huntress was then forced to abandon the costume, which was promptly given to the just-introduced Cassandra. (There may or may not be an AbortedArc involved).

** ''Spider-Man'' introduced a new heroine called Jackpot, who is probably best known so far for maybe possibly potentially being Mary Jane Watson. It wasn't, but no sooner did we find that out than the girl was killed. This girl was intended to be the "Uncle Ben" for the original Jackpot, who came up with the identity but passed it off to someone else as she didn't want the [[ComesGreatResponsibility Great Responsibility]]. The "original" Jackpot (Sara Ehret) then received an epic chewing out by Spidey for her RefusalOfTheCall resulting in an innocent's death which prompted her to take the identity for real... and shortly afterwards a villain learned her true identity (by utter coincidence) and sent a thug to kill her husband in front of their daughter, forcing both to go into hiding under false identities. Man, Spidey's rotten luck really is contagious, huh?

* In ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'', protagonist Sena Kobayakawa is forced to play football disguised as the titular player, who allegedly played football at a prep school for Notre Dame. In the arc for the Poseidons team during the Fall Tournament, he learns that there actually ''was'' a Japanese player at Notre Dame's prep school only known as "Eyeshield 21" -- and that he's one of the other athletes in the tournament.\\
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It was revealed eventually that Hayato Akaba of the Bando Spiders was Eyeshield 21... but ''not'' the player Kakei had faced, who turned out to be Yamato Takeru of the Teikoku Alexanders. In the final chapter, [[spoiler:it's revealed that eventually Sena himself becomes the real Eyeshield 21 at Notre Dame prep for a time.]]
* In ''Manga/IkkiTousen Great Guardians''... [[spoiler:The "Saji Genpou" we know is actually Ouin Shishi (Wang Yun); the big bad of ''Great Guardians'' is the Fighter with the real magatama of Zuo Ci, a LittleMissBadass young woman who is the ''true'' Saji Genpou as well as the local DarkMagicalGirl, ''and'' the "other" Saji might be in love with her or at least care sincerely for her.]]
* ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamTheOrigin'', an alternate retelling of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', introduces a real Char Aznable, who befriended IdenticalStranger Casval Deikun shortly before both enrolled in the Zeon military. [[spoiler:Casval then sets Char up, switching their ID papers and having Char take a shuttle Casval knows is rigged to explode in an assassination attempt. Following this, Casval assumes Char's identity and the rest is history.]]\\
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The novel ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'' briefly toyed with the notion that [[spoiler:Full Frontal, the story's CharClone, was in fact the '''real''' Char, who survived the shuttle bomb all those decades ago.]]
** According to the spinoff manga ''MSV-R: The Return of Johnny Ridden'', this was also the case for [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Quattro Bajeena]]. The real Quattro Bajeena was a crewmember on a Federation ship destroyed in the One Year War. Because military regulations required [[NeverFoundTheBody physical remains to be recovered]] for a soldier to be officially declared dead, the majority of those killed in space battles were listed as MIA rather than KIA. As a result of this, some corrupt Federation bureaucrats began selling off the identity papers of soldiers who were still considered to be alive but almost certainly never coming back, and Char was one of their customers.

* ''Comicbook/XMen''
** In the 1960s, ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} adopted the identity of "Erik the Red" to infiltrate a villain's confidence. In the 1970s, a new Erik the Red appeared, this time an alien agent named Davan Shakari with no connection to the original plot and no particular reason to use the identity (or for that matter, any reason to not use his real name; it's not like he had a civilian life on Earth to conceal). Cyclops actually expressed his confusion at this, pointing out that "Erik the Red" was simply his own disguise.\\
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In the '90s, another storyline saw the return of the Erik the Red identity, who was even {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in the text as being someone else we knew in disguise. Later, it turned out that he was ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, who has at times gone by the alias of "Erik Lehnsherr".
** In 2001, writer Creator/GrantMorrison added a character named Xorn to the X-Men, a Chinese dissident sealed behind a skull-like metal mask to contain his powers. In 2003, Xorn [[TheReveal unmasked himself]] as a disguise for Magneto. But [[ExecutiveMeddling the editors]] didn't like the idea of Magneto (and Xorn, technically) being KilledOffForReal at the end of the arc (nor did they care much for the way Magneto's character was portrayed despite Morrison's rationalizations), and asked incoming writer Chuck Austen to handle the situation. Under Austen's changes, it was now the '''real''' Xorn who had pretended to be Magneto, who had pretended to be his identically masked twin brother, also named Xorn, who joined the team.\\
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''That'' Xorn has since turned up: turns out he was just misguided, and has since decided the world needs the real Magneto again, repowering him after his depowerment in ''ComicBook/HouseOfM''. Some fans are angry, but most are just confused. (It helps that both "who was Xorn really?" ideas were written by people who didn't check with each other. One version of him having a brother who looks pretty much the same ''mostly'' lets you say "Ah, that's who that other Xorn origin belongs to" but there are still conflicts. Notably, the story that establishes that Xorn wasn't Magneto totally ignores the whole question of who he was. Charles returns to Genosha to bury Erik, and finds... Erik. From there it was basically "We thought that guy was you." "I used to be evil but not ''that'' evil." "Yeah, you're right. Anyway, on with this comic's ''actual'' plot!" and the mess was mostly forgotten. Needless to say, many wish that had been the end of it.)
* During the "Identity Crisis" storyline, Franchise/SpiderMan adopted ''four'' separate disguises (Dusk, Hornet, Prodigy, and Ricochet) to operate while framed for murder.[[note]]This was actually quite a clever move on Spidey's part; he realized that if he went off the radar and a new costumed hero immediately showed up with similar abilities and body build, people would be suspicious. But if ''four'' such people showed up, it didn't matter if his enemies suspected one of them was a disguised Spider-Man because who could possibly suspect ''all of them''? And it gave him plenty of margin for error, since if one identity was blown he still had others to fall back on. To further the trickery, two of the fake identities (Dusk and Ricochet) were ''supervillains''.[[/note]] After the storyline's resolution, a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] hero who had nothing to do with Spidey obtained the abandoned costumes and gave them to four new characters, who he trained to form the short-lived ''ComicBook/{{Slingers}}''.

* In UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, Franchise/{{Superman}} and ComicBook/JimmyOlsen occasionally adventured inside the shrunken Kryptonian city of Kandor where Superman's powers didn't function, and adopted the Batman-and-Robin-inspired identities of Nightwing and Flamebird. They were later replaced by Kandorian scientist Van-Zee (Superman's IdenticalStranger) and his lab assistant Ak-Var. Then Nightwing became Dick Grayson's post-Robin identity; Flamebird has also been used by established characters ComicBook/PostCrisis (including, the first Bat-Girl Betty Kane who Post-Crisis got rebooted into Bette"e" Kane who went by Flamebird. ). And now all of the Kandorians have been set loose. ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 There was also a brief period]]'' when ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and ComicBook/PowerGirl assumed the identities of Flamebird and Nightwing while operating inside Kandor.
* The character of "ComicBook/WonderGirl" originally appeared as the teenaged incarnation of Franchise/WonderWoman in ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'' (just as the original Superboy was the youthful identity of Franchise/{{Superman}}). When the Comicbook/TeenTitans were created in the 1960s, Wonder Girl was added to the team... but the Titans were contemporaries of the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, [[SeriesContinuityError and by extension of Wonder Woman]]. Thus the Titans' Wonder Girl was explained four years later to be Donna Troy, an orphan rescued by Wonder Woman and raised among the Amazons. (This explanation would be subjected to repeated [[{{Retcon}} further revisions]] due to Franchise/TheDCU's constant reboots and retoolings, with [[ContinuitySnarl/DonnaTroy the result being that Donna has an impossibly convoluted history even for a comic book character]]. For a while it was even said that she is left over from TheMultiverse as it existed before most dimensions were destroyed and the survivors merged during ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths,'' making her ''a walking TemporalParadox who has multiple conflicting histories by nature!'' However, DC's continued inability to leave well enough alone means that that is now no longer true and she's ''still'' getting new origins every few years - some of which are actually ''impossible'' due to the revised histories of related characters!)
* The blue lightning-themed costume worn by Superman during his "Electric Superman" phase was passed on to a ''woman'', who adopted the name "Strange Visitor".

* In ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'', Deadpool himself is convinced he's Wade Wilson (he isn't), and though Agent X claims to be the real deal, doubt has been cast on the assertion. It isn't helped that T-Ray ''also'' claims to be the real Wade Wilson. For a while who the real Wade is varied DependingOnTheWriter, now it's just Who the Hell Knows. (Both 'Pool and T-Ray are kind of nuts, so you really can't take either of them at their word.)
* "Ronin" seems to be the current go-to identity at the moment for ''Comicbook/TheAvengers''. It was first used by Echo (though original plans meant for it to be Daredevil), and then ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} used it. And when a "Ronin" shows up in ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' (an AlternateUniverse), it turns out to be ComicBook/MoonKnight.
* Speaking of ComicBook/UltimateMarvel, the Ultimate version of Black Panther turns out to be Captain America, covering for the real Panther.
* Shortly after the Watergate scandal and resignation of President UsefulNotes/RichardNixon, Steve Rogers abandoned the identity of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and adopted the new identity of Nomad, the man without a country. After a few months, Rogers returned to fighting crime as Captain America. Years later, Jack Monroe (aka ComicBook/{{Bucky|Barnes}}), formerly the {{sidekick}} of the Captain America of the 1950s, took up the mantle of Nomad. Played with in a later storyline, when the U.S. government attempts to assert control over Captain America. Steve Rogers allows them to take the name, costume and shield away from him rather than become a government lapdog, only to don a {{Palette Swap}}ped costume and fight crime as simply "The Captain". When Rogers eventually reclaimed the Captain America identity, he swapped uniforms with the other individual the government had placed as Captain America, who was re-dubbed "The U.S. Agent".
* Franchise/SpiderMan introduced a new heroine called Jackpot, who is probably best known so far for maybe possibly potentially being Mary Jane Watson. It wasn't, but no sooner did we find that out than the girl was killed. This girl was intended to be the "Uncle Ben" for the original Jackpot, who came up with the identity but passed it off to someone else as she didn't want the [[ComesGreatResponsibility Great Responsibility]]. The "original" Jackpot (Sara Ehret) then received an epic chewing out by Spidey for her RefusalOfTheCall resulting in an innocent's death which prompted her to take the identity for real... and shortly afterwards a villain learned her true identity (by utter coincidence) and sent a thug to kill her husband in front of their daughter, forcing both to go into hiding under false identities. Man, Spidey's rotten luck really is contagious, huh?

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': Fiona Fox was originally introduced as a robot created by [[BigBad Dr. Robotnik]] to seduce Tails and ultimately roboticize him, but ended up being destroyed. A few years later, we find out that the robot was based on the real Fiona, who had been Robotnik's prisoner. The real Fiona became a recurring character, and ultimately, recurring villain, as she ended up pulling a FaceHeelTurn to be [[EvilTwin Scourge's]] girlfriend.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** Inversion: one of the hinted identities for the villain Hush was Batman's dead sidekick Jason Todd, the second Robin. While this turned out to not be the case, the writers at DC Comics decided to bring back Jason Todd for real in a later story arc.
** One arc explained how Batman had appropriated the identity of dead criminal 'Matches' Malone as cover for infiltrating the underworld. However, it turns out the real 'Matches' is not dead and he comes back, wanting to know who has been impersonating him... [[DeathBySecretIdentity which, ironically, gets him killed by a gang lord]] who started to suspect the connection between Malone and Batman [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint but wrongfully assumed]] that 'Matches' was an informant. The shock of finding a dying Malone gave Bruce a short-lived case of identity crisis.
** [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl}} Cassandra]] [[Comicbook/Batgirl2000 Cain]] might have been created simply to have someone wearing the costume of the new Batgirl introduced in the BatFamilyCrossover ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand''. That new Batgirl was introduced near the beginning of the story, while Cassandra was introduced several months later. After her two-part introduction, Cassandra's next appearance was in an issue that revealed the new Batgirl's identity as existing character ComicBook/{{Huntress}}. In that issue Huntress was then forced to abandon the costume, which was promptly given to the just-introduced Cassandra. (There may or may not be an AbortedArc involved).

* The Invincible Man from Marvel Comics. The first person in the costume was the Super Skrull. Not only was he in a full costume, but he was pretending to be Dr. Franklin Storm, father to Susan and Johnny Storm of the ComicBook/FantasticFour. The Skrulls kidnapped Franklin and pretended he had gone mad and given himself super powers while in prison. Reed Richards saw through the deception when he noticed Invincible Man's powers were similar to their own. The second person was Reed himself, who was kidnapped and brainwashed into becoming the Invincible Man to help kidnap the rest of the Fantastic Four. Ultimately, this was a plan created by Doctor Doom. Reed's version used technology from the Psycho-Man to play with people's emotions and create hallucinations. The third Invincible Man was Doom himself. Prior to the Secret Wars, he lost his body during the battle between ComicBook/SilverSurfer and Terrax and was forced to body-swap with a random pedestrian before he died, created a makeshift costume and weapons, and attacked the Latverian embassy. Doom's ultimate plan was to get to his resources, including his spare suit of armor, and recreate his body. The story arc ended with Doom getting his body back and leaving the innocent man's body once his mind was transferred by the Beyonder, whom he accidentally called to the scene (due to temporal paradoxes the Doom who fought in the Secret Wars was Doom from THAT point in time, with no knowledge of the Secret Wars).
* ''ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}'' has Walter Dorian. In the first stories Walter Dorian is an alias used by the titular VillainProtagonist as a SecretIdentity, abandoned after Ginko arrested Diabolik and exposed his true face. Years later, reasoning that when he first arrived in Clerville Diabolik didn't have the means to create a convincing fake identity yet, the authors created a ''real'' Walter Dorian, an IdenticalStranger of Diabolik whose identity was stolen by the title character after nearly killing him in another country (Dorian was left for dead and was imprisoned as a spy by soldiers who were about to rebel).
* When ComicBook/{{Domino|Marvel Comics}} was first introduced, it wasn't actually the ''real'' Domino, but rather another character named Copycat impersonating her. The real Domino wouldn't show up for another year after the fact.
* Creator/AlanMoore's run of ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' famously revealed that the titular character wasn't Alec Holland, but rather a living mass of plant life that had consumed his memories and personality. After the events of ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'', the real Alec Holland was brought BackFromTheDead and became Swamp Thing for real.
* The fifth issue of the 1966 ''ComicBook/PlasticMan'' comic had Plastic Man attempt to thwart a gang's plan to reward a fortune to the first crook that can off Plastic Man by pretending to be a brute known as the Assassin and tossing his friend Gordon K. Trueblood into the water while the latter was disguised as Plastic Man (Trueblood was in on the trick and Plas fished him out when no one was looking). When Plastic Man as the Assassin shows up to claim the prize money, his deception is ruined when the Assassin turns out to be real and desires to kill Plastic Man for impersonating him.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime Ash disguised himself as "Ashley". ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', Ash meets a waitress who looks a lot like his old disguise, except older, and even has the same name. [[spoiler:And given what the plot has hinted so far, they might be half-siblings.]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* In ''Irma La Douce'' Nestor Patou impersonates a QuintessentialBritishGentleman and is ultimately jailed for murdering his alter-ego. He's unexpectedly freed at the end when a real person who looks and acts exactly like his fake identity shows up.

* Daniel Pinkwater’s ''Young Adult Novel'' contains a variant: the Wild Dada Ducks, a group of schoolboys, amuse themselves by writing chapters from an imaginary novel called “Kevin Shapiro, Boy Orphan” (which contains many examples of DeathByNewberyMedal). When they find out their school has a real Kevin Shapiro, they embark on a new project — to make him the most popular kid in school. Shapiro isn’t too happy with their helpful meddling, and concocts plans of his own…
* Aoi Meinokawa is the GirlOfTheWeek in the seventh volume of ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign''. Kyousuke seeks her help in summoning an entity capable of permanently killing his nemesis, [[EldritchAbomination the White Queen]]. It turns out that the White Queen had actually taken the place of Aoi from the beginning, and deliberately helped out Kyousuke to further her own plans. This is a somewhat unusual example, because Aoi is an ArtificialHuman originally designed to resemble the White Queen, so no disguise was necessary -- the White Queen only had to get the real one out of the way and copy her behavior. [[spoiler:But it turns out that Kyousuke had actually figured out the deception before the Queen revealed herself, and was merely playing along]]. At the end of the volume, the real Aoi is found alive, having been dismembered and dumped in a lake.

* ''Series/TheFlash2014'': Season One features [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Harrison Wells]], who is eventually revealed to be Eobard Thawne, having stolen the body of the real Harrison Wells and murdered the original. Following this, due to the popularity of Tom Cavanaugh's acting, no less than ''four'' Harrison Welleses from four different Earths have played important roles in the show (in addition to Thawne returning with Wells' body), with a variety of others performing cameos.
** Season Two features Jay Garrick arriving from Earth-2 and warning the team of the evil, demonic speedster Zoom, but being unable to help them much due to his powers being missing. However, it turns out in the second half of the season that "Jay" was actually Hunter Zolomon, Zoom's true identity, deceiving them all. Only in the season finale does he reveal that he didn't just make up the name, but rather stole it from the real Jay Garrick, the Flash of Earth-3, whom he's been keeping imprisoned behind an iron mask in his lair. By this point, poor Barry has some major trust issues.

* In ''Series/EarthFinalConflict'', when Liam is born and grows up, he decides to create himself an identity. He researches William Boone and finds that he served with a soldier named Liam Kincaid, who is now nowhere to be found after the war. One episode has Liam encounter the real Liam Kincaid, who has joined a black ops unit after the war. Kincaid eventually says he's okay with Liam using his name.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' turned out to be AllJustADream, but the enemies in it later turned up in non-dream ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' games.
* Used in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'', with the first Lleviathan being [[spoiler:Johanna's dead father affected by a Fygg. The real one makes an appearance in the PlayableEpilogue, but only if you accept Johanna's quest after defeating the BigBad.]]

* In the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' franchise, we have the name and identity of [[spoiler:Ansem]], which is initially used by [[spoiler:Xehanort]]. Unusually for the trope, the ''real'' [[spoiler:Ansem]] is practically '''nothing''' like the fake one, in terms of looks, personality, motivations, or moral alignment (the imposter only interacted with those who had never met the real deal).
* In the Imperial Agent's prologue in ''Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', the Agent adopts the cover identity of a pirate known as the Red Blade, with your contact telling you that the real thing is far away. At the end, just as you're leaving, the real deal comes to Hutta and you're forced to kill him to avoid blowing your cover. Ironically, he implies in conversation that [[LegacyCharacter he's not the original Red Blade either.]]

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* A variation: The ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Not Without My Anus"--treated as an in-universe work of fiction--features a journalist/court prosecutor named Scott as a villain. Years later, in "It's Christmas in Canada" the kids meet a ''real'' Scott. This Scott was introduced with five words: "That's Scott. He's a ''dick''." A later episode sees the debut of a real Ugly Bob, who moved to America because Americans think all Canadians look alike.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' had Mr. Krabs attempt to get [=SpongeBob=] to give up the soda drink hat he sold him by claiming that it belonged to someone who is dead now, making up the name of [[OverlyLongName Smitty Werbenjeggermanjenson]]. Later, it turns out that there actually is a fish in Bikini Bottom Cemetery by that name and that the hat did belong to him prior to his death.
** A later episode has Spongebob trying to cover up the fact that he got a black eye [[ItMakesSenseInContext trying to open a tube of toothpaste]] by saying he was attacked by [[DastardlyWhiplash Jack M. Crazyfish]], telling multiple conflicting stories of the encounter, until the real Jack M. Crazyfish enters the Krusty Krab looking for Spongebob. Although Spongebob panics and admits he made up those stories about Crazyfish, it turns out Crazyfish wasn't coming to attack Spongebob but to get a Krabby Patty.

* According to Greg Sestero in the biography ''Literature/TheDisasterArtist'', Tommy Wiseau named Sestero's character in Film/TheRoom, Mark, after the lead actor of ''Film/TheTalentedMrRipley'' but insisted that the actor's name was "[[Creator/MattDamon Mark Damon]]". What both Wiseau and Sestero didn't know was that there is an actual actor named Mark Damon and yes, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Damon he even has his own page]] on [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]].

* The fifth issue of the 1966 ''ComicBook/PlasticMan'' comic had Plastic Man attempt to thwart a gang's plan to reward a fortune to the first crook that can off Plastic Man by pretending to be a brute known as the Assassin and tossing his friend Gordon K. Trueblood into the water while the latter was disguised as Plastic Man. When Plastic Man as the Assassin shows up to claim the prize money, his deception is ruined when the Assassin turns out to be real and desires to kill Plastic Man for impersonating him.

See also ImpersonationExclusiveCharacter, InventedIndividual, MasqueradingAsTheUnseen, and FakeRealTurn. Result of the same motivation as the LegacyCharacter. Compare CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown. Contrast with DeadPersonImpersonation.

* A double example from the Creator/{{Wildstorm}} universe, the android [[ComicBook/WildCATS Spartan/Yon Kohl/John Colt]] [[RetCon turned out to be]] imprinted with the mind of the original Yon Kohl/John Colt, who had died in the sixties. Later, it was revealed that Colt was NotQuiteDead and had created the identity of Kaizen Gamorra, an [[FaceHeelTurn insane dictator]]. After he was killed again (by the same guy, in the same way, but this time he's [[DeathIsCheap definitely, totally, for real dead. Probably.]]) Then we discover that there was a real Kaizen Gamorra who's not happy that Colt imprisoned him and stole his identity.